WWE's Lola Vice Credits NXT Trainer, Explains She'll Be 'Forever Grateful'

After building up some experience on live events and "WWE NXT Level Up," WWE star Lola Vice made her "WWE NXT" singles debut on Tuesday night. Vice faced Roxanna Perez, coming up short against the former "WWE NXT" Women's Champion. Making an appearance on "Busted Open Radio," Vice talked about her training process, including one individual who had a major impact on her.

"I will forever be grateful for ... Norman Smiley," Vice said. "He helped me put on my wrestling shoes for the first time. And for the first four months of [my] being in NXT, I was with Coach Smiley, and everything I know now is because of that man." Vice also thanked Terry Taylor, as well as Oney Lorcan and Matt Bloom, for their help in her training.

Smiley has been a key member of the coaching staff since the early days of NXT and the WWE Performance Center. Prior to that, Smiley had a wide-ranging wrestling career, competing for promotions including WCW, CMLL, TNA, and many more. He retired from the ring in 2008, instead choosing to pass on knowledge to future generations of wrestlers.

Before signing with WWE, Vice (real name Valerie Loureda) was an MMA fighter, competing for Bellator. Upon her retirement from the sport, Loureda's record was 4-1-0. Since making the move over to professional wrestling, Vice has started teaming with Elektra Lopez, with the duo picking up some recent wins on "NXT" before Vice's singles loss to Perez. Vice has cited Ronda Rousey as a major inspiration for her, but with Rousey seemingly gone from WWE, Vice will have to duke it out with Shayna Baszler when it comes to MMA supremacy within WWE's women's division.